**Tolstoy’s _War and Peace_ is around 1300 pages long. It took him six years to write it. Yet, it threatens to pale into insignificance when compared to the column inches and web pages dedicated to Everton’s search for a right-back.**
The search for a new right-back has become less a transfer priority and more a long-running comedy series. Fourteen months, twenty-two names, and as things stand, still no permanent solution.
Let me tell you a story…
It started last June, when the Blues looked to have their man. But they didn’t. It’s rumbled on ever since, through a January window, a World Cup, and most of another summer.
Here’s the full chronology — every name, in order, from first to last (plus some that I’ll have, no doubt, missed).
Confident of landing him on a free, only for Tete to quietly re-sign at Craven Cottage instead. Round one to Fulham.
The S\*n had this one done and dusted — one-year deal, medical booked, the works. Then silence, and Walker ended up at Burnley instead. First of two appearances on this list.
Moyes’s old man from his West Ham days, drafted onto the shortlist once Tete slipped away. Never got much further than a mention.
Released after Saints’ relegation, briefly described as Everton’s “preferred target.” Ended up going to West Ham.
The name nobody outside the building had heard of. Reportedly rivalling Fulham for his signature at one stage. Nothing since.
Long-standing interest that’s never quite gone away. Everton first looked at the La Masia graduate in the summer of 2025, then came back for another look a year later once Barcelona greenlit his exit.
Fulham, Inter Milan, Racing Santander and even Liverpool have all been credited with interest along the way.
The longest-running near-miss of the lot. Linked in August, again in October, “strong pressure” reported in November, a £10.4m bid readied in January, renewed interest in May — and then Bournemouth signed him for £11m while Everton, by their own fans’ admission, appeared to make no real attempt at all.
Mentioned in the same breath as Juanlu early on, then never brought up again.
The one from left-field. A former Arsenal man playing in France, briefly linked as Lyon looked to balance the books, then quietly dropped.
Two years and counting. First linked before last September’s deadline day, revisited in January, again in February, and still going now, with Norwich digging in throughout.
The right-back equivalent of a will-they-won’t-they that never resolves.
_\[Everton go into 2025/26 without a right-back signing. Jake O’Brien, a centre-back, is deployed there instead for most of the season.\]_
The reunion option — a former Burnley man once labelled “impeccable” by Vincent Kompany. Botafogo wanted £13m, then got hit with a transfer ban before a deal could happen anyway.
A brief flirtation once Vitinho fell through. Leeds’s manager Daniel Farke quickly and publicly ruled it out.
The pragmatic one, made available on the cheap by relegation. Sounded out at £10m; West Ham held out for £20m. Still unresolved months later.
Looked like a smart, attainable target before a good World Cup pushed his price out of range at precisely the wrong moment.
Lovely footballer, contract till 2029, Strasbourg pricing him accordingly. Never remotely realistic.
Turned up on a shortlist, vanished just as fast.
The value option, at around €20m. Linked, re-linked, and linked again without a bid materialising.
The ambitious one. Fun to imagine, harder to actually finance.
Reports in Italy claimed Everton had opened talks. Barely made a ripple before disappearing from the conversation again.
Technically, a winger who can play right wing-back, discussed more as a versatile alternative than a genuine right-back solution.
Explored as an alternative before Everton settled on Alistair Johnston as their leading target. The Bundesliga’s reigning sprint king, for what it’s worth.
The one that’s rumbled on longest this summer, reportedly stuck on a £5m gap in valuation — Everton’s transfer window in miniature.
The freshest name at time of writing, with Palace reportedly open to letting him leave.
And we’re back. Fourteen months on from the first attempt, Walker’s apparently under consideration again — this time available for a nominal fee after Burnley’s relegation. Third time’s the charm?
Twenty-two names. Fourteen months. Still no permanent right-back through the door.
Whatever happens next, this list already has a strong case for the most Everton transfer saga of the modern era.